Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

Pokémon: Sinnoh no Isekai

Chapter One-hundred and seventy-nine: Showcase Struggles

The rest of the heroes, along with Tierno, also they were joined by May's younger brother Max, were all sitting in the audience as the Anistar City Pokémon Showcase was started. As the Showcase went underway with an interesting Pokémon quiz-themed Theme Performance, Ash in the audience said, "Serena and May are both smart, I'm sure they'll pass."

"They each have to answer three questions correctly," Trip pointed out, "And their Pokémon have to work to get them the chances to answer a question. So even if they know the answer to a question, they have to wait for their Pokémon to bring them an opportunity to answer a question."

Kenny nodded once in understanding. "Dawn would be ace here, part of the reason why she's as tough as she is rests upon how smart she is."

Dawn smirked a bit in amusement. "You can have all the power in the world, but it wouldn't mean squat if you lack the know-how to apply it properly. Similarly, you can have all of the know-how in the world but still lose to someone not as smart but was able to trump you due to sheer power. An even mix of strength and smarts is one of the keys to being successful as a Pokémon trainer."

"There's also forging strong bonds with your Pokémon," Ash pointed out. Dawn nodded in agreement to Ash.

Turning to look at Max, Bonnie said, "So, umm, Max, who do you hope, umm, wins the Showcase here?" It was clear that Bonnie was nervous around Max, but only the reborn trainers were preceptive enough to pick up on it; the others in the group, even Max himself, didn't notice it due to focusing on the Showcase. Additionally, Dawn, Kenny, and Trip were all able to tell that Bonnie was nervous around Max for the same reason that Serena was nervous around Ash. It brought small but sincere smirks of amusement to the lips of the reborn trainers.

Gesturing down to the stage, Max said, "Well obviously I'm rooting for my older sister to win, especially as winning here will net May her third and final Princess Key that she needs to qualify for the Master Class Showcase. If May doesn't win, then I hope it'll be Serena instead."

"I can't blame you for hoping that your sister wins," Clemont remarked, "I mean, she is part of your family."

"Man, it bites that more than one person I'm friends with are entered into the same Showcase," Ash said, "I don't know who to roo-"

"Oh you have GOT to be kidding me!" Bonnie said, cutting Ash off, "Ochaco has a THIRD shiny Pokémon?" Looking down at the stage, the heroes and their friends were all surprised to see that Ochaco, who had entered the Anistar City Pokémon Showcase, was using a shiny Talonflame. Due to being able to fly in and out of things, the shiny Talonflame was easily able to complete the obstical course to get for Ochaco the chance she needed to answer questions. Furthermore, Ochaco was able to get all of her questions right, allowing her to move onto the next round; the last question even related to fossil Pokémon, Ochaco's domain of specialty.

After Ochaco was declared the one who will move onto the next round, Trip said, "Well this bites! Serena and May are both in deep doo-doo now, given that Ochaco has whipped out a third shiny Pokémon!"

Kenny had a firm look of consideration on his face. "It's obvious to me that Ochaco is really playing hardball in her bid to get the attention she needs for her goals." There was also something else about Ochaco's use of shiny Pokémon, rather the specific shinies she had been known to use, that caught her attention. Dawn planned to look into the matter later, but she had a sinking suspicion that Ochaco may be getting some degree of outside help in her Pokémon Showcase efforts.

...

Luckily for Serena and May, both of them moved onto the next round, the Freestyle Performance; Shauna was eliminated due to being in the same bracket as May and May had been the first in her bracket to qualify. As such, both Serena and May gave it their all as they performed; Serena with Braixen and Pancham, May with Blaziken and Venasaur. After Serena and May had gone, however, Ochaco was the next to go, and she had put on a similarly as impressive performance with her Lopunny and Talonflame, earning a lot of cheering from the audience.

After Ochaco had gone, the other Performers who made it to the Freestyle Performance round went next, but Serena and May could tell that Ochaco was a tough act to follow. Maybe too tough, considering how the two girls noticed that none of the other Performers got near as much applause as Ochaco did, although all Performers still got considerable applause. Eventually, the last Performer went, and after she was done, everyone in the audience was prompted by Monsieur Pierre to vote for their favorite Performers that took part in the Showcase.

Both Serena and May hitched their breaths, nervous as all of the votes were being cast. After the last person voted, the votes were being tallied up. Serena, who was hoping to get her first Princess Key, and May, who was hoping to get the third and final Princess Key she needed to qualify for the Master Class Showcase, were both on the edges of their metaphorical seats as all of the votes were being tallied up. When the vote counting was finished, Pierre got the results and proceeded to make his way to center stage to annouce the results while the Performers in the Freestyle Event all waited nervously behind him.

"Let's hear it for the winner of the Anistar City Pokémon Showcase," Pierre announced, "Ochaco, who entered with her Lopunny and Talonflame!" The audience erupted into cheers as Ochaco was declared the winner of the Showcase, and the cheering continued as an excited Ochaco was presented with the Princess Key. The others on stage with Pierre and Ochaco, although all dejected since they lost, still put on brave faces and applauded the winner who, with the Princess Key she had just won, had now qualified for the Master Class Showcase, when it's eventually held.

The fact, in and of itself, that Ochaco qualified for the Master Class Showcase meant that, even if Serena made it in time to qualify, she would have some very difficult competition to deal with.

...

"Sorry that you lost, Serena," Ash said as he and the others consoled Serena, who looked dejected that she had lost yet another Pokémon Showcase.

Letting out a breath, May said, "Yeah, it really bites. But silver lining, now that Ochaco has three Princess Keys, she won't be taking part in anymore Showcases, at least until the Master Class Showcase is held. The biggest threat to those still needing to qualify is off the board now."

Serena nodded in understanding. "...Yeah, there should still be plenty of Showcases left to be held before the Master Class Showcase."

Nudging Bonnie to get her attention, Kenny pointed May out to her. "There's May right now," Kenny whispered to Bonnie, "If you wanna continue stressing your brother out to no end by asking random girls to marry him, now's the perfect chance to ask May to marry him."

Bonnie nodded once in understanding, but she almost took a step forward towards May before Bonnie stopped short suddenly upon spotting Max who stood next to May. Bonnie, to Kenny's surprise, actually took back that almost step. "...Umm, I'm not too sure, umm, if May and Clemont would work together..." Bonnie whispered back to Kenny, drawing another surprised look out of him. Given that Bonnie and Kenny were whispering, none of the others heard them. Eventually, May and Max took off, and Tierno and Shauna said they had to go meet back up with Trevor.

This left the heroes alone again. As the group headed back to the Anistar City Pokémon Center, Kenny asked, "Hey Bonnie, why didn't you try asking May to marry Clemont, even though you had the perfect opportunity right there, AND I reminded you about it?"

Clemont perked up at that. "Wait a minute, you mean to tell me that Bonnie DIDN'T try asking a girl to marry me?"

"Yeah, I'm kind of curious myself," Serena said, the surprise of Bonnie not asking a random girl to marry Clemont bringing her (Serena) out of her depression for a bit, "Bonnie, why didn't you ask May to marry Clemont?"

Bonnie gulped nervously. "Well, I, umm, let's just say that there's something I need to take into consideration first."

Dawn, remembering that Bonnie was showing signs of having a crush on Max, merely smiled calmly and nodded once. "Clemont, your little sister wasn't trying to push for a girl to marry you for once. I think that you shouldn't question it."

"Yeah, best not to look a gift Rapidash in the mouth," Clemont replied as the heroes continued making their way to the Pokémon Center.

The next day over at the Anistar City gym, a number of Psychics were meditating. The meditation session, led by Anistar City gym leader Olympia, came to a screeching halt when Olympia, her eyes going wide for a few seconds, suddenly held a hand to her head as she fell over, crying out in pain and distress even before she hit the floor. This summoned some of the other Psychics over to her. "Miss Olympia," a female Psychic said, "What's wrong?"

"...A vision..." Olymia said, panting for breath, "...A vision of the future, predicting crisis unbound being unfurled upon the Kalos region. I also saw who all will be involved in the crisis." Using her psychic powers, Olympia showed the other Psychics a vision depicting Ash, Professor Sycamore, Dawn, Kenny, Trip, and the rest of the heroes' group. "These trainers and the good Professor," Olympia said with labored panting, "They will be playing a big role!"

As the other Psychics looked on at the vision Olympia shared with them, the female Psychic who first tended to Olympia looked angered at the thought of those shown to her by Olympia's vision.

...

Meanwhile at the Pokémon Center in Anistar City, Ash and the reborn trainers were getting their parties ready to deal with a Psychic type gym. "Well dark Pokémon are immune to psychic attacks, and steel types are resistant," Clemont said, "So Dawn and Kenny both bringing a lot of dark types, and Trip bringing his Greninja and a number of steel types, is a sound call." Turning to look at Ash, Clemont said, "What about you, Ash? Keep in mind that according to Tierno, battles against the Anistar City gym are tag battles were the leader and the challenger use only two Pokémon each total."

"I'm gonna try things with Trevenant and Steelix," Ash replied, "I'm confident that they'll do well."

As Dawn nodded in agreement with Ash, the heroes all heard a news broadcast turn on. Looking to the TV screen mounted on the wall in the Pokémon Center, the heroes saw Malva, who the reborn trainers knew was a member of the Kalos elite four. "This just in," Malva said, "Professor Sycamore, Kalos's esteemed professor of Pokémon, is in Anistar City to research the the giant sundial, which is said to be connected to the Mega Evolution phenomenon. In international news, the domain of Princess Salvia is still trying to find the still missing Sir Artemis the Cringy. We'll bring you more details on that as they become available."

As the news cut to a commercial break, Kenny said, "Guys, I think I might be in trouble."

"We can discuss that later if we remember," Dawn remarked, "For now, I say we go meet Professor Sycamore over at the giant sundial." The others all nodded in agreement, then they all got up to go see Sycamore at the sundial.

...

Over at the sundial, Sycamore and his assistants were setting up to study the sundial when the female Psychic who first tended to Olympia when she fell over went in and confronted them. Without even explaining herself, the Psychic sent out a Sigilyph to wreck some of the equipment Sycamore and his assistants had. "I will not allow you to trigger the crisis that Olympia had foreseen!" the Psychic yelled at Sycamore, "Nothing can stop-"

"Boss, use Night Slash on Sigilyph!"

The Psychic was cut off when she heard someone cry out, then suddenly a Honchkrow flew in and struck Sigilyph with Night Slash, knocking it out with a single critical hit. The Psychic then saw the heroes come running in and, recognizing them from Olympia's vision, sent out a Sabeleye to confront them. All this did was prompt Kenny to send out his Sabeleye Ban to confront the enemy Sabeleye, keeping it occupied until Boss was able to take out the enemy Sabeleye with Drill Peck. When the heroes reached the scene, Dawn pointed an accusing finger at the Psychic.

"What the hell is your major malfunction?!" Dawn snapped, "Attacking Professor Sycamore from out of nowhere for no discernible good reason, then attacking us when we came to Sycamore's defense!"

"You all and Sycamore here are destined to bring about the crisis that Miss Olympia had foreseen!" the Psychic snapped as she pointed to the heroes, "If you all can be stopped, then the crisis can be aver-"

"Carrie! Stand down now!"

The Psychic, apparently identified as Carrie, tensed up as the heroes, as well as Sycamore and his assistants, all turned to see Olympia and a few other Psychics come up. The reborn trainers knew who Olympia was, but had to act like they didn't know given that this is supposed to be their first seeing her. "This isn't the first time you had jumped to conclusions," Olympia scolded towards Carrie, "You need to think before acting!"

"Oh, thanks for the save, Olympia," Sycamore said, drawing an acknowledging nod from Olympia. To the heroes, Sycamore said, "Kids, this is Olympia. She's the gym leader for the gym here in Anistar City."

Olympia nodded once in confirmation. "Indeed I am." To the heroes, Olympia said, "I take it some of you are interested in challenging my gym?"

"You bet we wanna challenge you!" Ash said, drawing an affirmative cry from Pikachu, as well as Frogadier who was out at the time. Seeing Frogadier, Olympia's eyes widened a bit, staring directly at Frogadier, before her eyes settled down.

"...I just had a vision regarding Frogadier specifically," Olympia said, then said to the heroes, "Come to my gym. I'll explain there." The heroes all followed Olympia and her Psychics to the Anistar City gym, with Sycamore going along as well while his assistants fixed the damage to their equipment that Carrie had caused.

...

Later over at the Anistar gym, one of Olympia's Psychics, identifying herself as Charlene, told the heroes and Sycamore, "Olympia can see the future thanks to her psychic abilities, but she only sees the future when she gets visions. The power doesn't work spontaneously. Additionally, she's not once ever been able to foresee what kinds of Pokémon those who challenge her gym will use against her, meaning she goes into battles blind as to what Pokémon will be used by challengers."

"Good," Kenny said, "I kind of have a beef with Psychics who can foresee what Pokémon will be used by challengers, especially since most people have absolutely no way to defend against such powers."

Olympia nodded in agreement. "I'm actually rather grateful that my powers won't show me advanced knowledge of what Pokémon those who challenge my gym will use. I do believe in having a sense of fair play, after all." Turning to look at Ash, Olympia said, "Now then. About your Frogadier."

"What about Frogadier?" Ash asked.

Using her psychic powers, Olympia showed everyone an image of an egg. "Forgadier is a Pokémon with a curious fate," Olympia began, "A fate it had even when it was still in its egg before hatching."

"I don't really have a lot on Frogadier's past before he came as a Frokaie to my lab," Sycamore remarked.

Olympia nodded once in agreement. "After hatching from its egg as a Froakie, it began training hard by itself, even to the confusion of the other Froakies. Ash's Frogadier soon learned that it could only get so strong without guidance from a trainer, so it sought out the right one, leaving them one by one for not having the right kind of strength." Turning to look at Ash, Olympia said, "Which it did by finding you, given the lengths you went through to make sure it was safe. You had shown not just strength, but love as well, thus proving in Frogadier's eyes that you're the right trainer for it."

Ash gave a single understanding smile. "Yeah, I'd never leave a Pokémon hanging."

"With you," Olympia said to Ash, "Frogadier will not only evolve into Greninja, but also obtain a power that no other Greninja will have."

"Will it be able to Mega Evolve, perhaps?" Serena asked, looking curious, "Although I never heard of a Greninja who can Mega Evolve..."

"If it's a Greninja Mega Evolution we're talking about here," Trip said, "Then any Greninja can use it. Olympia said just now that the power Ash's Frogadier will have as a Greninja will be a power no other Greninja will have. If any Greninja could use the power, then I'd look into getting some for Kulu-"

"AHHH!"

Trip was cut off when Olympia cried out in pained surprise, holding a hand to her head. "Olympia!" Charlene cried out in concern as she and Carrie tended to Olympia, "Are you alright?"

Panting with exhaustion, Olympia said, "I... I shall be fine. I just had another vision is all. A very powerful vision regarding Dawn, Kenny, and Trip." Turning to look at the reborn trainers, Olympia said, "My vision of what you three will do involves seeing you accomplish great feats in service to save not just Kalos, but Hoenn after that."

Dawn, Kenny, and Trip all perked up at that, as did the other heroes and Sycamore. "What did you foresee, Olympia?" Sycamore asked.

Olympia had a serious look on her face as she regarded the group as a whole. "...I did not see things exactly clearly, but I did get snippets. Trip, you shall be confronting life-bringing rains. Dawn, you shall be confronting destructive droughts. Kenny, you shall be confronting winds of order."

"Sounds awesome," Kenny said, "Count us in, chief!"

Olympia looked a bit surprised. "You three... don't fear what unknown dangers lie in wait for you in the future?"

"We've dealt with a lot of major events before," Dawn replied, "We can roll with the punches if need be."

Olympia relaxed with a notable smile. "...Then I shall leave the future in your capable hands. Now, I believe you all are interested in challenging my gym?"

Nodding once in the affirmative, Trip said, "Yeah. It'll be me, Ash, Dawn, and Kenny."

"Then it seems I'll have my work cut out for me over the next couple of days," Olympia replied, a hint of amusement in her expression, "I train for infinite possibilities, so I hope you all are prepared for anything and everything." Ash, Dawn, Kenny, and Trip all nodded in agreement, and made arrangements for how they can challenge her gym. It ended up being Dawn first, then Kenny, then Trip, then Ash. Olympia said she'll need the rest of the day to rest, given her visions had taken a lot out of her. But she'll be ready to see Dawn first thing in the morning starting after eight.

With arrangements made, the heroes and Sycamore took off from the Anistar City gym. Ash and the reborn trainers got in some more training, and would continue doing so in between goes at Olympia's gym. They needed to be ready for what all a powerful Psychic like Olympia would be able to throw at them, so they would train as much as they could. Kenny also suggested to the other boys to watch what all Olympia does when she battles Dawn in the morning, so as to prep themselves for when they have their own goes at the Anistar City gym.

Dawn wasn't sure how to feel about how she was being used as a canary in a coalmine.

The following morning began the process of Ash, Dawn, Kenny, and Trip challenging Olympia to official gym battles at the Anistar City gym. Dawn was the first to go and, using her Honchkrow Boss and Spiritomb Marquess, she defeated Olympia and earned the Psychic Badge. Dawn recognized from the moves that Olympia was having her male and female Meowstics respectively use that the female was the fighter of the group while the male was the supporter. Knowing that, Dawn had Boss take down the female Meowstic, doing so with a single critical Night Slash, while Marquess hit the male with a Dark Pulse that, even with the male Meowstic's Light Screen up, was still more than enough to knock the male Meowstic out.

While Olympia's Meowstics were being treated, Ash, Kenny, and Trip did some tweaking to their strategies in respect to what they saw from Dawn's impressive victory. That being said, when Kenny had his go against Olympia, he had his Sabeleye Ban use Fake Out on the female Meowstic first to make her flinch, while Godzilla the Tyranitar used Rock Slide which hit both Meowstics. The male Meowstic was able to get up Light Screen first, but Rock Slide is a physical move which in no was would be curbed by the special attack curbing Light Screen. Both Meowstics took heavy damage, then on the next turn, Ban defeated the female Meowstic with Shadow Claw, and Godzilla defeated the male Meowstic with Crunch, earning Kenny the Psychic Badge.

The following morning, Trip had his go, and he used his Greninja Kululu, being part dark and therefore immune to psychic attacks, and his Empoleon Myde, being part steel and therefore resistant to psychic attacks. Trip had Kululu and Myde both take aim at the female Meowstic, Kululu using Dark Pulse and Myde using Flash Cannon. After the female Meowstic went down to the combined assault, the male Meowstic who got up Light Screen went on the offensive by using Psyshock on Myde, but it did hardly anything due to Myde's defenses. Another combined assault from Kululu and Myde ended up defeating the male Meowstic despite the Light Screen, making Trip the winner and thus netting him a Psychic Badge from Olympia.

Later that afternoon, after Olympia's Meowstics had time to recuperate, Ash had his go. Although he used totally different Pokémon than he did in the anime in Dawn's previous life, Ash still won against Olympia on his first try. Taking a cue from the battles of Dawn, Kenny, and Trip, Ash had Trevenant and Steelix focus on the female Meowstic first, taking her out as the male Meowstic set up Light Screen. But as stated before, Light Screen curbs the damage from special attacks; Trevenant's Shadow Claw and Steelix's Crunch are physical attacks, meaning they went full force on the male Meowstic and knocked it out. It may have gone differently, but Ash's battle with Olympia here still saw Ash win and earn the Psychic Badge.

...

"The next gym is in Snowbelle City," Olympia said to the heroes as she saw them off; Sycamore had already returned to Lumiose City. "The gym leader for the gym over in Snowbelle City, Wulfric," Olympia went on, "Is the strongest gym leader in Kalos. His use of ice Pokémon is not to be underestimated."

"Ice Pokémon, huh?" Trip said, "Well it's a good thing I like getting and using steel Pokémon."

Dawn nodded once in understanding; like Trip favoring steel, Dawn also favored a type strong against ice. To Olympia, Dawn asked, "What's this Wulfric man like?"

"He's a tall and large man," Olympia said, "You'll know him when you see him." The reborn trainers already had an idea of what Wulfric looked like, Dawn was just asking to help maintain things. Already knowing about Wulfric is part of why Trip had made a certain choice a certain way earlier. The heroes, now knowing of the gym that was awaiting them over in Snowbelle City, proceeded to make their way over. They had full confidence that they could take on any and all challenges that came their way, no matter what they could be.

...

A bunch of Team Flare members laid in defeat, and some even looked to have been slain outright. Working over the defeated Team Flare was the victorious Team Scorn, who was helping themselves to anything and everything Team Flare had. As the Team Scorn members worked, Admin Hero who was supervising everything was met up by Captain Xander. "Sir!" Xander said as he saluted Hero, "I've just received word that the last of Team Flare has been rounded up and defeated! Team Scorn's Shield Sector is now the sole operating team in the Kalos region!"

Hero nodded once in understanding. "Very good. Now nothing can get in our way of our plans for Kalos, particularly for the Lumiose Conference that shall be going down sometime soon."

As Hero conversed with Xander, they were met up by their respective Officer's Assistants, Asami and Rina. "Hey Admin Hero," Asami began as she looked up at Hero, "What's this I heard about special plans for Gloire City? Isn't that where Grand Duchess Sabine has a summer home?"

Hero nodded once in the affirmative. "It is. It's also going to be where the Master Class Pokémon Showcase will be hosted. Sabine and her daughters will be in Gloire City to see the Master Class Pokémon Showcase when it's held, but we'll have to be careful with our plans for Gloire City, as per the order of Boss's Assistant Ayane. She has a vested interest in the Master Class Pokémon Showcase when it's held, after all."

Xander arched a wry eyebrow at Hero. "...You have a personal interest in these 'special plans' for Gloire City, don't you." Xander made his comment sound more like a statement being made rather than a question being asked.

Hero gave Xander a wry look. "...You'll notice how I said that Grand Duchess Sabine and her daughters will be in Gloire City to see the Master Class Pokémon Showcase." Hero let out a darkly amused chuckle. "...There's something I aim to do to, someone I am to get back."

END, CHAPTER ONE-HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-NINE

Author's notes;

This chapter sees the Anistar City Pokémon Showcase, which Ochaco ends up winning, beating Serena and May in the process and getting her third and final Princess Key thus qualifying for the Master Class Showcase. After the others cheer Serena up and Bonnie mysteriously doesn't try getting May to marry Clemont despite May being there and Bonnie was reminded about it, the heroes proceed to meet with Olympia the Anistar City gym leader, who in addition to having her vision concerning Ash's Frogadier, also has a vision concerning Dawn, Kenny, and Trip doing something great to save not just Kalos, but also Hoenn.

After that, Ash and the reborn trainers all get goes at the Anistar City gym, all four of them winning on their first tries each. After learning of the gym in Snowbelle City, the heroes take off on the road, but unbeknownst to them, Team Scorn had just usurped Team Flare's place, effectively replacing them wholly. This will have a lot of effects on the rest of the Kalos arc, but that all can be covered later. For now, the heroes will continue on their journey, which in the next chapter will see the first of the many alterations that will come with Team Scorn taking the reins from Team Flare. Don't go anywhere, because the next chapter will be a doozy.

Dawn's Pokémon: (on hand) Chi-Chi (female Infernape), Marquess (male Spiritomb), Boss (male Honchkrow), Fena (female Leafeon), Leni (female Lucario), Tsukune (Palkia)

Kenny's Pokémon: (on hand) Roshi (male Torterra), Ban (male Sabeleye), Goofy (male Houndoom), Shallot (male Glaceon), Godzilla (male Tyranitar), Black (Giratina; Origin Form)

Trip's Pokémon: (on hand) Fourze (male Electivire), HedonismBot (Magnezone), Myde (male Empoleon), Kululu (male Greninja), Deelia (Dialga), Todoroki (male Goodra; alpha; Hisuian)

Ash's Pokémon: (on hand) Pikachu (male), Trevenent (male), Steelix (male; shiny), Frogadier (male), Talonflame (male), Braviary (male; alpha; Hisuian)